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Sefer Chafetz Chayim
Hilchot Esurei Lashon Hara

Kelal Dalet - Halachah 5

Be’er Mayim Chayim

(4/5/2)-(24).. relatives of this sinner: Even based on the doubt that

we wrote about above (in the 16th notation of the Be’er Mayim Chayim)
that it is possible that because the relatives are not obligated to believe the
disclosure they would not be obliged to reprimand him, nevertheless it
appears to me that it is permitted to disclose this person’s actions to those
relatives since his intentions in making this disclosure are for the person’s
good and he sees that the relatives will believe him and will reprimand this
person because of the disclosure. But the person making the disclosure to
the relatives must give the matter a great deal of consideration beforehand
because most times the relatives of this person will not believe him at
all and it is possible that the disclosure will escalate into a significant
controversy. If this is so, then it is better not to say anything at all to
them.

(4/5/3)-(25).. discretely: And don’t challenge this statement of

Rabbeinu Yonah (in section #220) based on what is brought down in many
places in Shas, that the Beit Din administers lashes to this person even if
he violates a rabbinically enacted law. We don’t find any mention in the
gemara that this must be done discretely in order not to embarrass him
while the punishment was being administered, and obviously this is so if
this person violated a Torah law in a way that was clearly deliberate even
if there was no forewarning. (The answer is) It is obvious that rebuking
this person depends on the discretion of the judicial authorities who are
aware of his violations and can decide whether or not a rebuke would help
stop this person from committing those violations in the future, because
there are times when the forewarning alone would not help, as Shelomo
HaMelech teaches in Mishle (29:19) “Words alone will not discipline
a servant.” It also depends on whether or not this person’s actions are
generally known to the public and if the judicial authorities took no action
it would result in a defamation of G‑d’s Name, G‑d forbid, if this person
was not dealt with appropriately. Then the judicial authorities would be
absolutely obligated to do everything in their power to reprimand and deal
harshly with this person in order to make an object lesson of him so that
society would see the punishment and not emulate his behavior, as the
Gemara Sanhedrin teaches (46a), quoting Rebbe Eliezer Ben Yaakov, “I

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